The new American Special series represents
Fender’s efforts to “bring the full Fender
experience of a terrific-sounding, smooth-playing,
rock-solid-built US-made Fender
guitar to the workingman without emptying
his bank account.”

We assume that even the functionally clueless
can appreciate what a challenge that must
have been, since in practice it means giving
players the ability to bring home a new,
US-made Fender for a price that is basically
(once you’ve adjusted for inflation) a fraction
of what a new American Fender electric
used to cost, even during the heydey of
American manufacturing—and at a time when
so many foreign-made guitars have clearly
demonstrated themselves as equals to their
domestic rivals in quality, even exceeding
many of them in value. To have an American-made
Fender for the price of a foreign-made
Fender in 2010 is some dream, and the fact
that Fender appears to have pulled it off
is, we think, a testament to the company’s
determination to continue satisfying the
demands of its customers even as those
demands become more… well, challenging.

Finding the Line
Assessing the value these newcomers offer
to working guitarists, however, turns out
to be quite a challenge in itself. Fender
has been very successful at its strategy of
offering ever more variations on two of the
most archetypal electrics in existence—
namely the Telecaster and the Stratocaster—
and there are nearly as many iterations of
these storied instruments as there are kinds
of players. The American Special series, like
the Highway One and Classic Player series
before it, isn’t out to offer an instrument
so particular that it’s totally unlike anything
already available in Fender’s lineup, so those
looking at this new series will rightly wonder
if they have anything new to offer, and if they
justify replacing the trusted and well-worn
Fender guitars already in their possession.

Quite a large number of players, though,
have expressed a desire for an American-made
guitar that doesn’t come at a premium
price. And supplying that is something
new for Fender, even if the instruments
themselves aren’t a radical departure from
previous offerings. At what point does the
trade-off become reasonable? Street price
for the American Special Series comes in
right around $800, and Fender has numerous
Mexican-made instruments at that
price point—quite effectively blurring the
line between USA-made and foreign-made
instruments. So, the real question is: how
important is the fact that they’re made in the
United States? As we’ve said, props should
be given to Fender for answering the call
from players and addressing the desire for
legendary American-made quality at a price
that’s affordable. Indeed, the key ingredient
in the American Special recipe is the “made
in the U.S.A.” label, but that might turn
out to be something of a shibboleth. Some
players will only buy US-made guitars for
ethical reasons, and want to feel that they’re
supporting the American worker. Others
purchase them based on the assumption that
they’re of a higher quality simply because
they’re made in the United States. For those
to whom it means a lot, it means a lot, but
for the price-conscious buyer looking for a
workhorse Fender electric with which to pay
the bills (or at least some of them), it’s less
clear how important that will be. What is
important is how they measure up in quality
to their more expensive domestic brethren,
and whether they’re on par with Fender’s
top-of-the-line foreign-made models.

With the number of models Fender currently
produces bearing the Strat and Tele namesakes,
it’s best to compare the American Specials to
those they have most in common with: the
American Standard series and the Mexican-made
Standard and Highway One lines.

A native of the Pacific Northwest, Jordan grew up traveling the country as the son of theater technical directors and speech instructors. His exposure to the performing arts early on helped foster his love for music and attention to detail, and upon receiving his first guitar at age 15, he became hooked. Jordan brings a considerable background of gear knowledge and tech experience to Premier Guitar, and has contributed an extensive amount of articles, artist interviews and Rig Rundown videos since late 2008. He lives in the Iowa City area, where he also works to bring music education initiatives to both local and regional communities.

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